The Pied Piper of Guadalupe
| The Pied Piper of Guadalupe | |
|---|---|
| Merrie Melodies, Sylvester series | |
| Directed by |
Friz Freleng Hawley Pratt |
| Produced by | David H. DePatie |
| Voices by | Mel Blanc |
| Music by | Milt Franklyn |
| Animation by |
Gerry Chiniquy Bob Matz Virgil Ross Tom O'Loughlin |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 19, 1961 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 6 minutes |
| Language | English |
The Pied Piper of Guadalupe is a 1961 Looney Tunes cartoon that was directed by Friz Freleng and starred Sylvester and Speedy Gonzales. It was nominated at the 34th Academy Awards in the category of Best Animated Short.
After being taunted and mocked by the mice in Guadalupe, Sylvester imitates the Pied Piper of Hamlin in an attempt to lure the mice of Mexico, so he can trap them in a jar. But his flute has no effect on Speedy Gonzales, and Speedy decides to rescue his friends, one by one.
Sylvester finds himself being constantly harassed and teased by the mice as they seem to be able to outsmart him at every turn, going so far as to bonk him on the head with a two-by-four when he insults them, no matter how far away he is from their hole.
Hoping to get even with them, Sylvester is inspired by a book based on the Pied Piper of Hamlin, and goes to take music lessons on the flute. Once he is well-studied with the flute, he returns to get his payback on the mice. At first, when the mice see him, they continue to taunt and ridicule him, saying he's gone "much loco in the cabeza," but their taunting comes to an abrupt end when, as Sylvester plays the Mexican Hat Dance on his flute, the mouse leading the taunts becomes entranced, and dances out to Sylvester, who then conks him on the head with his flute, stunning him, and places him in the large jar he brought with him. With the next victim, Sylvester removes his sombero to conk him, then places it back on his head before collecting him as well.
Following that, the rest of the mice are soon captured as well. One attempts to hold back another entranced by the music, pleading for him to not go, but both get conked and captured by Sylvester. The last two try to restrain the last one by anchoring his tail to a wooden peg in the ground, but both the one with the hammer and the restrained mouse are entranced and captured. With that, Sylvester thinks he's finally gotten his revenge on the mice for all their taunts and ridicules, but soon discovers that he missed one: Speedy Gonzales himself.
Speedy demands his friends back, but Sylvester refuses, even taunting Speedy to try and rescue them. Calling Sylvester's bluff, Speedy makes for the jar containing them, and manages to rescue one before Sylvester could even put the cork back in to capture Speedy. Angered by that cheap shot, Sylvester tries to get even by luring Speedy in via his flute, but Speedy acts like he was entranced as well, and when Sylvester tries to bonk him with a mallet, Speedy dodges and clobbers him, leaving Sylvester dazed and wobbling in place as Speedy rescues another of his amigos.
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